Prolotherapy Success Stories

Prolotherapy Eliminated Pain From Degenerated Shoulder

Dick Randolph of Fairbanks, Alaska, is as active as anyone I know. This avid outdoorsman hikes miles into the wilderness to fish and hunt. He tears around on a snowmobile, chops wood at his remote cabin, and, believe it or not, soars through the skies on a paraglider.

At age 66, the only thing that ever slowed Dick down was shoulder pain. Small wonder: he’d been diagnosed with large, complete rotator cuff tears and joint degeneration in both shoulders. The constant soreness and restricted range of motion, which were exacerbated by paragliding, made him seriously consider the surgery his orthopedist had recommended. Until he read about prolotherapy inHealth & Healing.

Prolotherapy involves injections of a mildly irritating solution into the joint space. This promotes a massive healing response that strengthens the ligaments and tendons responsible for stabilizing joints. Prolotherapy doesn’t mask pain—it eradicates it. When the supporting structures hold the joint in proper alignment, pressure is taken off the nerves. Pain subsides, range of motion returns, and cartilage degeneration slows down.

Dick’s first treatment helped so much (he could move his shoulder more freely than he had in years) that two months later he flew from Fairbanks to the clinic for his second treatment. From here it was on to Idaho for paragliding, which he now does with little or no pain.

— from Health & Healing by Julian Whitaker, MD

Back Pain Relief Improved Richard’s Golf Game

Richard Karvoski, a 65-year-old from Yuma, Arizona, suffered with low back pain for several years, and it was getting worse and worse. The pain radiated into his legs, making walking difficult, and he was particularly stiff and uncomfortable when he got up at night. Worst of all, it was interfering with his golf game. During flare-ups, he had days and even weeks when he couldn’t play at all.

He finally consulted a doctor, who ordered an MRI, which revealed bulging discs and spinal stenosis, or narrowing of the spaces in the spine with pressure on the spinal cord and nerves. He was sent to a specialist, who told him that he could take drugs to reduce pain, but the only thing that would really help was surgery.

Just two weeks later, Richard read about prolotherapy in Health & Healing. It sounded a heck of a lot better than surgery, so he scheduled an appointment at Whitaker Wellness. He came to the clinic and received prolotherapy treatment to his lower back, then returned to the clinic at monthly intervals for three more treatments. Today, 18 months later, Richard reports that he is 90-95 percent improved. He still has some pain if walks for long distances, but nothing like he had before. He plays golf every day and his handicap has fallen to a very respectable 8—half of what it was before prolotherapy.

— from Health & Healing by Julian Whitaker, MD

You Don’t Have to Live With Chronic Pain

Kathy Stevens, who has been training my dogs for years, is a battle-scarred veteran of the war against chronic pain. Kathy injured her back when she fell from a ladder in 1996. As a result of her injury, she lost the feeling in her legs for four weeks. When sensation did return, she almost wished it hadn’t. She suffered intense pain that deprived her of sleep and interfered with her ability to do her job. Her legs were so weak that at times they would simply give out from under her.

She went through the usual merry-go-round of treatments with painkillers, physical therapy, and even a high-tech procedure called thermocoagulation in which a hot needle was inserted into her lumbar spine to shrink a swollen disc. But none of these relieved her pain, so after “living with it” for a year, she consulted an orthopedic surgeon who advised her to have the damaged disc removed. When she mentioned to me that she was contemplating surgery, I urged her to first try prolotherapy, a nonsurgical intervention that eliminates pain by addressing the underlying cause: weakened ligaments and tendons.

Kathy came to the Whitaker Wellness Institute once a month for four months for prolotherapy. By the third month her pain had lessened considerably, and after her fourth treatment, she had regained much of the strength in her legs. Today she exercises on a treadmill, sits through movies without suffering pain, and has no trouble keeping up with her dogs.